No Progress :(

I've been off racing for a few weeks. I have been a bit dismayed by my lack of progress in races lately. I know exactly what the problem is: I just cannot seem to get the car(s) rotated into the corners. Oh, and I seem to be having some trouble with my brake pedal.

So, addressing my problem, I decided to take a brake from races to improve my driving standards. Sticking exactly to my plan, after 15 mins of practice I joined a race at the Jefferson course of the Summit Point Raceway, in the reverse layout.

As usual, I did not come last by virtue of the fact I never spun out. Although I did almost get taken out by a flying Mazda!!!

iRacing - Flaying Mazda: The Sequel!

So I racing the Production Cars championship at the Jefferson course (reverse) at Summit Point Raceway, minding my own business, doing really badly, when I *just* miss a Mazda flying over from the other side of the track!

In retrospect, I really wish I had save the race replay so I could see that incident in glorious detail, but sadly I didn't. I'll be putting the full race up in the coming days!

Not a rookie anymore!!!

To reaffirm what the title says: I'm not a rookie anymore! After doing my second race at the Jefferson course in the Mazda's, I finally got my D-class licence, opening up a whole load more racing opportunities on the roads!

Getting a 2nd place at Jefferson, this race was also my first ever laps led in iRacing. Still learning and still seeking that first win, hopefully a change of scenery will help! Onwards and upwards.....

My second race at Jefferson is below:

Back to iRacing!

Back to iRacing for the first time in a good few weeks. Did a quick race at the Jefferson Course at Summit Point Raceway. No qualifying, 10 minutes of practice and starting last on the grid: I wasn't expecting much! Much to my surprise then when, after a wonderfully manic first lap, I come out in 3rd place! The video at the top is a commentary of the first lap as well as replays of a funny incident involving a flying Mazda!

The video below is the full race video from my perspective! The first lap is well worth the watch!

iRacing set!

With exams done, I can finally get some serious racing done. I've put a few racing videos online lately and here's a few more! The first video is my most intense oval race to date, resulting in a 3-way loggerhead for 1st place with me coming off second. A great, clean race - great fun!

The second video is another fantastic race for me; racing the Mazda MX-5's at Lime Rock Park. It was great fun and despite crashing twice, I fought off a last lap challenge and held on to 3rd place - my first ever podium in iRacing.

This third video was one I raced a while back and did a post-race commentry for. It was a devastating race: I was in 2nd place, fighting for the lead, when a mistake put me behind a back marker who promptly took me off the track! Went from fighting for the lead to dragging it home in 9th place. Hmph!

The final video is another race in Street Stocks at Charlotte Motor Speedway. This was a good, solid race where I brought the car home in 3rd place to complete my 3rd podium in three races, having never had a podium before then!

Mazda Racing Vidoes

Now its uploaded, here's the Mazda in action at Watkins Glen for 2 races!

Test Drive Tuesday - Mazda 787

Game: Simraceway Cost: $7


So today's Test Drive Tuesday was the Mazda 787 and I have to say, I spent about 20 minutes trying it out, then quit the race to buy the Mazda. I said of the Maserati last week that it was the most fun I've had in a supercar, but the Mazda wipes away all the other cars I've tried. The straight line acceleration and braking is phenomenal and the aero package in the car means the car can sustain very hight speeds in corners as well as being able to hold very heavy braking and hard acceleration. Kitted out right, at 220mph, the Mazda is one of the fastest cars in the game that I've driven. Both me and my friend found the car a very easy drive and a very enjoyable one too. The car is both fun and easy to drive for people who are not used to rear wheel drive vehicles, or who aren't used to racing games at all, and weighing in at $7 out of promotion, its one of the cheapest supercars I've come across on Simraceway, and I'd thoroughly recommend purchasing it. Also, much like the lap board in Top Gear, I'm starting a table of personal best laps around 6 tracks in the cars I test. The reason is that trying to review a car is very subjective. Your experience of a car depends on your skills and preferences in driving, which will differ from mines and other peoples. I've chosen 6 tracks, 3 ovals and 3 circuits: Daytona is a test of the pure flat out speed of the car, whereas Martinsville and Bristol form a great test of accelerating, braking and steering stability. I've come to love the Watkins Glen long track for its fast opening section and I feel that the latter stage is a good test of the stability of the car in constant-speed corners. Similarly Laguna Seca is a good mix of fast corners testing the stability and acceleration of cars. Finally Longstone Pass is a tricky track with many medium and heavy braking sections that push the boundaries of of the car your driving. So I'm currently working my through the list of cars I already own, I'll announce how the cars stack up against others. Just now, the Mazda is first on all counts! I'll finish off the videos and get them uploaded when I can. Unfortunately because the Mazda was so easy to drive, the Test Drive Madness videos won't feature this week as there was no hilarious crashes. I will put some videos of the racing performance though. Thanks for reading!